(Part thirteen of
a series compiled by Dennis B. Horne)
As one
of the greatest doctrinal and scriptural thinkers and teachers of the 20th
century, Elder McConkie occasionally turned his attention to expounding matters
related to the First Vision. Further, his testimony of that supernal theophany
left no doubt that he knew with perfect certainty that it had occurred:
By
comparison to what then occurred, the command of the man Moriancumer unto the
mountain Zerin, “Remove,” and it was removed; or the decree of the man Moses to
the Red Sea, “Divide,” and the waters were divided, congealing on the right
hand and on the left; or the command of the man Joshua, “Sun, stand thou still,
and thou moon likewise,” and it was so—by comparison to what
happened in that grove of trees in western New York on that spring morning,
such things as these fade into an obscure insignificance.
As we
approach with awe and reverence, in the spirit of worship and thanksgiving, the
heaven-sent miracle of that bright morn, let us view first the setting in which
the heavens would be rent and the miracle wrought.
That year
of grace, 1820, like the 1,400 years which preceded it, was one in which
darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. It was a
day of spiritual darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. Angels no longer ministered
to their fellow beings; the voice of God was stilled, and man no longer saw the
face of his Maker; gifts, signs, miracles, and all the special endowments
enjoyed by the saints of old were no longer the common inheritance of those in
whose hearts religious zeal was planted. There were no visions, no revelations,
no rending of the heavens; the Lord was not raining down righteousness upon a
chosen people as he had done in days of old.
The dead were not raised, nor the eyes of the blind opened,
nor the ears of the deaf unstopped. There were no legal administrators whose
acts were binding on earth and in heaven. That gospel preached by Paul, and for
which Peter died, was no longer proclaimed from the pulpits of Christendom.
In short,
apostasy reigned supreme; it was universal, complete, all pervading. The
religion of the lowly Nazarene was nowhere to be found. All sects, parties, and
denominations had gone astray. Satan rejoiced and his angels laughed. Such were
the social and religious conditions of the day.
But in the
wisdom of Him who knoweth all things, who rules supreme o’er earth and hell,
the hour had come for the promised restoration. Eighteen twenty was to be the
year when the Great Jehovah would commence the restitution of all things spoken
by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. The covenants made
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning their seed were about to be
fulfilled.
When the
season comes to plant and harvest, the Lord of the vineyard sends the needed
husbandmen. The Lord’s work among men is done by men; choice and selected souls
become his servants. And so at the time appointed came Joseph Smith, Jr., the
man appointed. This spiritual giant of whom it is now said, “Joseph Smith, the
Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation
of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it” (D&C 135:3)—this foreordained prophet came to usher in the Lord’s great latter-day work.
. . .
To him the Lord said, “The ends of the earth shall inquire
after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage
against thee;
“While the
pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek
counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand.” (D&C
122:1–2.)
It was
1820; the man and the hour joined hands. The vision was soon to be, and the
burning flames of gospel truth would then consume the briars and weeds of
sectarianism that encumbered the Lord’s vineyard.
To prepare
for the day of burning which was to be, a spirit of religious concern and
unrest swept the frontier areas where the Lord’s future prophet dwelt in
peaceful obscurity. The ministers of a decadent Christendom plied their trade
with fanatical valor. Their cries went forth, “‘Lo, here is Christ,’ and, ‘Lo,
there.’” (JS—H 1:5.)
Each
professor of religion used all his powers of reason and sophistry to gain
converts to his particular system of salvation. Feelings were intense;
bitterness welled up in many hearts. A “war of words and tumult of opinions”
spread rancor and division among the people. (JS—H 1:10.)
In the midst of these contentious times, God’s future prophet often said to
himself: “What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right, or are they
all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I
know it?” (JS—H 1:10.)
It was at
this critical point that divine providence caused a ray of living light to
shine forth from God’s holy word and enlighten the heart of the troubled
truthseeker.
Search the
scriptures. Treasure up gospel truths. Enjoy the words of eternal life in this
life, and hope for immortal glory in the life to come. Read, ponder, and pray
about all that the prophets have written. Such is the course which the Lord
invites men to pursue where his holy word is concerned. And it was into this
path of progress and enlightenment that young Joseph was led by that
providential hand which knows the end from the beginning and rules in love and
mercy over all his children.
The boy
Joseph—then in his fifteenth
year and who but twenty-four years hence would die a martyr’s death for what he was
about to see and for the witness which he bore of it—read
in the book of James a verse of scripture destined to be the most influential
single verse of holy writ ever to flow from a prophetic pen. . . .
And so at
this turning point in history—while the Spirit of God
was brooding over the darkness of the world and the spirits of men yet unborn
were awaiting the decree, “Let
there be light”—young Joseph was guided of God to ponder those words
which would usher in the greatest era of light and truth ever to exist on
earth.
“Never did
any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man,” the young
prophet would say later, “than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to
enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again
and again.” (JS—H 1:12.)
Such are
the ways of God and such are the workings of his Holy Spirit. With a power that
none can know save those whose souls are tuned to the Infinite, the words of
James sank into the heart of the great prophet of latter-days.
Of the
religious controversy which was pouring venom and confusion throughout the
whole area, Joseph Smith said, “The teachers of religion of the different sects
understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all
confidence in settling the question [of which church was right] by an appeal to
the Bible.” (JS—H 1:12.)
He must ask
of God, as all men must, and ask he did. He walked a short distance from his
country home to a secluded place in a grove of trees. There, alone, he knelt
and prayed, pouring out his soul to his Maker, offering up the desires of his
heart to God.
This was
the hour of destiny and hope. Amid the gloom of apostate darkness a light would
shine forth. Creation’s decree, the great proclamation—“Let
there be light”—was to be issued anew. The light of the gospel, the
light of the Everlasting Word, would soon shed its rays o’er all the earth.
But great
things do not come easily; events that shake the earth run into mountains of
resistance. There is an opposition in all things; every person who seeks to
find the true church runs counter to the ways of the world. Joseph Smith was no
exception.
As he
prayed, the powers of evil fought back with satanic terror. “I was seized upon
by some power which entirely overcame me,” he said, “and had such an
astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.
Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were
doomed to sudden destruction.” (JS—H 1:15.)
Such are
the ways of Satan that when the God of heaven seeks to send the greatest light
of the ages into the world, the forces of evil oppose it with the deepest
darkness and iniquity of their benighted realm. Lucifer, our common enemy,
fought the promised restoration as he now fights the accomplished restoration.
“But,
exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this
enemy which had seized upon me,” the Prophet continues, “and at the very moment
when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some
actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never
before felt in any being—just at this moment of
great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head.” (JS—H 1:16.)
Thereupon
the heavens parted and the veil was rent; the heavens, long brass, poured out
showers of blessings; the age of light and truth and revelation and miracles
and salvation was born.
The place,
the hour, the need, the man, and the divine destiny all united to usher in
God’s great latter-day work. The heavens did not shake, nor the earth tremble.
It was not an event heralded by the thunders and clouds on Sinai but one
patterned after the calm serenity and peace present before an open tomb when
Mary of Magdala uttered the reverent cry, “Rabboni,” to the risen Lord.
This was
the occasion when the greatest vision ever vouchsafed to man of which we have
record burst the gloom of solemn darkness. The Gods of old revealed themselves
anew.
“I saw a
pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which
descended gradually until it fell upon me,” the Prophet said. (JS—H 1:16.)
“It no
sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me
bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and
glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake
unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS—H 1:17.)
Great God
in heaven above—what wonders do we now
behold! The heavens rend; the veil parts; the Creators of the universe come
down; the Father and the Son both speak to mortal man. The voice of God is
heard again: he is not dead; he lives and speaks; his words we hear as they
were heard in olden days.
“My object
in going to inquire of the Lord,” our young supplicant says, “was to know which
of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner,
therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I
asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects
was right—and which I should join.
“I was
answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the
Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in
his sight; that those professors were all corrupt that: ‘they draw near to me
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the
commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power
thereof.’” (JS—H 1:18–19.)
Once or
twice in a thousand years a new door is opened through which all men must enter
if they are to gain peace in this life and be inheritors of eternal life in the
realms ahead.
Once or twice in a score of generations a new era dawns: the
light from the east begins to drive the darkness of the earth from the hearts
of men.
Now and
then in a peaceful grove, apart from the gaze of men, heaven and earth share a
moment of intimacy, and neither are ever thereafter the same. Such a moment
occurred on that beautiful, clear morning in the spring of 1820 in a grove of
trees near Palmyra, New York.
Man asked and God answered.
These things I know and of them I
testify.
Of course,
we are all acquainted with the First Vision in which the Prophet saw the Father
and the Son standing above him in a pillar of light—holy beings, personages who
defied description because of the glory and grandeur that attended them (JS—H
2:16-17). We are aware that they are personal beings (D&C 130:22-23). This
First Vision is the beginning of the knowledge of God in this dispensation. In
just a few moments of the opening of the heavens, the Lord swept away all the
false concepts, the Apostasy, the cobwebs of the past, and once again there was
one man on earth who knew that God was a personal being in whose image man is
created. All of us are well acquainted with this proposition. We start out
there, and we have no trouble. That is the beginning of the revelation of the
knowledge of God in our day.
Then all of
us are somewhat familiar with the crowning revelations and pronouncements that
Joseph Smith made about Deity. These were made in two sermons—one on April 6,
1844, the King Follett Sermon (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
342-62), and the second on June 16, 1844 (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, 369-76), just eleven days before Joseph Smith went to a martyr's
death. These statements in the King Follett Sermon and its companion sermon are
the ones that give us a little trouble.
The
pronouncements, the vision, the glory, the truth, revealed in the First Vision,
are in effect, by way of illustration, giving us some arithmetic. It is
teaching us some basic, fundamental things. When we come to these crowning,
concluding weeks of the Prophet's life, the knowledge that he gives us about
God is in the realm of calculus. Our problem is that we take this calculus, and
with a slight and restricted view about it, which sometimes gets us out of
perspective, we do not recognize, understand, and know the importance of all
the algebra, geometry, and fundamental principles that intervened and were
taught between the time of the First Vision and the crowning pronouncements.
The spirit
men who were associated with Christ and with Adam in all the preexistent
eternities, and who were more valiant than all their fellows, were the ones
chosen to head the various dispensations of the gospel. One of these was the
Prophet Joseph Smith. It doesn't take much reflection then, ... for us to know
that Joseph Smith was one of the dozen greatest spirits that God the Eternal
Father had in all the councils of eternity; that he came so as to be here at
the appointed time and at the express hour and at the very moment that the Lord
designed to open this dispensation. He was here to take part in that event.
I do not think that the Father and the Son would have
appeared to an ordinary fourteen-and-a-half-year-old boy, if he had gone out
into that grove of trees to ask the Lord which of all the churches was right
.... The Lord had been preparing Joseph Smith for that event from all eternity
.... Joseph Smith had the spiritual stature, the strength for righteousness
that enabled him to endure the vision; he had the talent and ability to
press forward in righteousness in the kingdom of God on earth: first, to establish
it; and then, somewhat, to perfect its organization before he was taken home,
before he sealed his testimony with his blood.
Christ and
his prophets are one; and salvation in this day is, first, through Christ and
his atoning sacrifice, and it is, second, through accepting the atoning
sacrifice and the doctrines of Christ as they have been revealed by the Prophet
Joseph Smith, and as they are taught by the living oracles who wear the mantle
of the Prophet and stand at this moment at the head of the kingdom of God on
earth. (Conference
Report, October 1951.)
All of
these wondrous things began in the spring of 1820. The person chosen of God to
be His prophet was named Joseph Smith Jr. This young man desired to know which
of all the churches was right. He poured out his soul to God in humble prayer.
The hour
had then come for the opening of the new dispensation. Messengers from eternity
appeared. The young man was told that if he were true and faithful, he would be
the instrument in the hands of the Lord for restoring again the fulness of the
everlasting gospel. He was true to the trust given him.
In process
of time, line upon line, the gospel was restored. The Lord had to restore the
knowledge and doctrines that the ancient Saints had. In large measure, He did
this by giving a new volume of scripture. We believe the Bible to be the word
of God. We accept it fully and completely. We study it and try to live in harmony
with its teachings.
But in
addition, we have another great volume of scripture. The Book of Mormon is a
history of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. In it
is recorded the plan of salvation. It tells what men have to do to be saved. It
is in perfect and complete harmony with the Bible. It expands and clarifies
many doctrines. It is a new witness for Christ.
There are
two great truths that men must believe to gain salvation. The first great truth
is that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, that He was crucified for
the sins of the world, that He ransoms all men from the temporal and spiritual
death brought into the world by the fall of Adam, that salvation is in Christ.
We reverence Him as the Son of God. We bear witness of His holy name.
The second
great truth that men must believe is this: God has in these last days restored
the fulness of His everlasting gospel; He has called prophets and legal
administrators again; He has set up His earthly kingdom; once again He has
given the power to bind on earth and seal in heaven.
Now,
incident to these great truths, there are many others. I single out the fact
that God has given in this day eternal family units. This is a sample of the
doctrines of the Restoration. It means that, in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, we are married for time and for all eternity. The family
unit that commences here will continue in the eternal world. This is the
noblest concept that can enter the heart of man.
God has revealed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost that
there has been a glorious and wondrous Restoration in our day. I am a witness
of that fact. I can assert it with absolute certainty. But any living soul
who will obey the same law will come to know in his heart the same thing that I
know in my heart. The way God speaks is by the pouring out of the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
The person
chosen of God to be his prophet was named Joseph Smith. This young man desired
to know which of all the churches was right. He poured out his soul to God in
humble prayer. The hour had then come for the opening of the new dispensation.
The veil was rent. The heavens were opened. Messengers from eternity appeared.
The young man was told that if he were true and faithful, he would be the
instrument in the hands of the Lord for restoring again the fulness of the
everlasting gospel. He was true to the trust given him.
In process
of time, line upon line, the gospel was restored. The Lord had to restore the
knowledge and doctrines that the ancient saints had. In large measure, he did
this by giving a new volume of scripture. We believe the Bible to be the word
of God. We accept it fully and completely. We study it and try to live in
harmony with its teachings. The Bible is the history of God’s dealings with the
ancient inhabitants of the old Palestinian world. We have the Bible the same as
all the Christian world has.
But in
addition, we have another great volume of scripture. This volume is named the
Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a history of God’s dealings with the
ancient inhabitants of the Americas. In it is recorded the plan of salvation.
It tells what men have to do to be saved. It is in perfect and complete harmony
with the Bible. It expands and clarifies many doctrines. It is a volume of holy
scripture. It was given to men in our day by the ministering of angels. It is
now published in many languages. It bears witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It
is a new witness for Christ. It teaches the doctrines of Christ. We rejoice in
the additional revelation we have received.
As part of
the great restoration the Lord sent many angels to minister to men. These
angels gave priesthood and keys. Revelations were received. Arrangement was
made to set up again the same organization had by the primitive saints. The
name of that organization is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We hold the holy priesthood. Apostles and prophets have been called again upon
earth. . . .
Now God is
no respecter of persons. He has revealed to me by the
power of the Holy Ghost that there has been a glorious and wondrous Restoration
in our day. I am a witness of that fact. I can assert it with absolute
certainty.
When the time drew near for the
ushering in of this great latter-day dispensation—the dispensation in which the
Lord designed to restore again the truths of everlasting salvation to men—he
placed Joseph Smith in circumstances where the future prophet was confronted
with a wave of religious revivalism. "In the midst of this war of words
and tumult of opinions," Joseph heard various ministers proclaim
conflicting systems of salvation. Some cried, "Lo, here is Christ,"
others, "Lo there." Confronted with this confusion, this young man,
who had been prepared for his coming mission from all eternity, who had sat
with Abraham and Adam in the councils in preexistence; who had the spiritual
stature and was the one foreordained to usher in this great work—this young man
read in the book of James: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him." (James 1:5.)
Joseph Smith said that never did
any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did
to his heart at this time. The Spirit of the Lord was working with him and
preparing him to receive the great vision that was ahead. Having listened to
the ministers, he concluded that there was no real prospect of resolving the
question as to which of all the churches was right by reference to the
scriptures, "for the teachers of religion of the different sects
understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all
confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible." In due
course, being led by the Spirit, he retired to a secluded and appropriate place
to ask God which of all the churches was right and which he should join. In his
language, this is what occurred:
". . . I saw a pillar of light
exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended
gradually until it fell upon me.
". . . When the light rested
upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description,
standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and
said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
"My object in going to inquire
of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know
which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to
be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light,
which of all the sects was right—and which I should join.
"I was answered that I must
join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me
said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those
professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but
their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men,
having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'
"He again forbade me to join
with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot
write at this time...." (See Joseph Smith 2:13-20.)
But on another occasion the Prophet
was permitted to write one of these other things. He was told, in effect that
if he remained faithful and true, he would be the instrument in the hands of
the Lord to restore the everlasting gospel. In process of time he became that
instrument- he received revelation upon revelation; heavenly ministers visited
him; keys and powers, rights and prerogatives were restored, until the gospel
in its fulness had been given again, which means that everything had been restored
that was needed to enable men to gain a fulness of exaltation hereafter. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was set up, and the power of God
was again manifest to men on the earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment